Cookies on the Arsenal WebsiteWe use cookies to improve your browsing experience and help us improve our websites. For more information, please click here. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our use of such cookies.

Ebecilio maps out his path to the first team

Kyle Ebecilio wants to be the next Dutchman to break into Arsène Wenger's first team.

Holland has been well represented at Arsenal in recent times with Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and new captain Robin van Persie all gracing Highbury, Emirates Stadium or even both.

Now there's some new Dutch talent bubbling under in the guise of midfield duo Ebecilio and Oguzhan Ozyakup. The latter is 17 months older and was on the bench at Old Trafford last month, and Ebecilio wants to earn his chance sooner rather than later.

"My first aim is to start every game in the Reserves and score five goals by Christmas," he told Arsenal.com. "Then I would like to join the first team and make my debut in the Carling Cup.

"I signed my first [professional] contract in February and that was very important for me. The manager has said I have to keep working hard and that is what I will do."

Ebecilio turned to his young compatriot when he first arrived in England last summer and now he is learning from one of the main men in Arsenal's midfield.

"I used to live about five miles away from Ozzy [Ozyakup] and he used to help me in training," said Ebecilio. "I couldn't speak English for the first two months so he helped me with what the coaches were saying

"Now I am modelling my game on Alex Song's. I like the way Song plays, he has power and strength. He is a strong midfield player, very smart and technically very good. I look up to him.

"Sometimes I ask him about football, but also about settling in because he was young when he came here."

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source5 Sep 2011

Please ensure that you enter your parents email address and click here to review our privacy policy for those who are under 13. Please note that an email address can only be used once to register as a Digital Member so you cannot register for both an adult and junior membership under the same email address.

Mobile Number

* Country

Language Preference

* Postcode

* Email Address

* Confirm Email Address

* Password

* Confirm Password

Get all the news from Arsenal.com

Manager's Email and Weekly E-Newsletter (only in English)I would like to receive the weekly Manager's and Arsenal's e-newsletters and other information about offerings from The Arsenal Football Club Plc by post, email and SMS.

Club Offers and Information (only in English)I would like to receive ticket updates, membership notifications and details of other offers and information relating to The Arsenal Football Club Plc and its group companies from time to time ("Arsenal") by post, email and SMS.

Offers and Information About Our Partners and Sponsors (only in English)I would like to receive offers and information about carefully selected third parties, including partners and sponsors, from Arsenal by post, email and SMS.